Office for iPad apps tipped for imminent release

Microsoft finally looks set to embrace Apple’s market-leading tablets, with Office for iPad apps tipped for an imminent release.

Following more than a year of will they, won’t they back and forth, latest reports from well-informed tipsters have claimed that an Office for iPad launch could now be just a matter of months away.

Surprisingly, however, it has been suggested that Microsoft will bring its Office services to iPad before the software package is rolled out for its own, Windows 8.1-powered tablet collection.

According to ZDNet’s renowned Microsoft tipster Mary Jo Foley, outgoing Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has approved an Office for iPad release, with the tablet-based software reportedly set for a pre-July launch. Despite having pioneered its own tablet-based platform, Microsoft will reportedly introduce Office for iPad prior to rolling out a touchscreen-friendly Windows 8.1 version of the productivity software later in the year.

“As you might expect, Microsoft officials are declining to comment on anything having to do with Office on iPad but don’t believe the naysayers,” Foley stated.

She teasingly added: “Office for iPad is coming. And sooner than many think.”

While Foley’s sources have hinted that an Office for iPad release will be with us before the year’s midway point, Microsoft itself has teased that it could soon embrace Apple’s tablet line that is spearheaded by the new iPad Air and iPad Mini 2.

“As we step back and say, these core applications, these core brands that are so important to enterprise customers and consumers, how do we make sure that we’re thoughtful about what we’re doing on the Windows platform, as well as cognizant of the fact that there’s other devices in their lives,” Microsoft’s Marketing Chief Tami Reller said.

“So you’ll see us be thoughtful about how and when we bring what applications to what platforms.”